NBA roundup: Spurs knock down 19 3-pointers
Charlotte Bobcats coach Mike Dunlap decided to pack the paint Saturday night and make the San Antonio Spurs beat them from the outside.
Danny Green and company did just that.
Green scored a season-high 23 points and the Spurs set a franchise record with 19 3-pointers to hand the Bobcats their seventh straight defeat, 132-102. Green was 7 of 9 from 3-point range and the Spurs shot 56 percent from behind the arc.
Tony Parker had 22 points and 9 assists as the Spurs won for the ninth time in 10 games to push their record to 17-4.
Green and Parker were a combined 18 of 22 from the field.
“Tony was driving and the defense was collapsing on Timmy (Duncan), so there were a lot of open shots from the perimeter,” Green said. “We were driving and kicking and moving the ball. It makes the game a lot easier when you’re making shots. We haven’t been shooting the ball as well lately from the outside so I don’t blame them for trying to do that.”
Dunlap said he decided to focus on the inside after the Spurs scored 60 points in the paint against the Houston Rockets.
The strategy backfired.
Kemba Walker led the Bobcats with 23 points and Gerald Henderson chipped in with 13.
Charlotte received a scare in the second quarter when rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist injured his tailbone. But he returned to the game in the third quarter after receiving treatment in the training room.
Heat 106, Hornets 90:
Dwyane Wade scored 26 points, LeBron James finished with 24 points and 7 assists, and host Miami snapped a two-game slide by topping New Orleans. Miami took control by outscoring the Hornets 33-10 over the final 11 minutes of the first half.
Mavericks 116, Rockets 109:
O.J. Mayo scored 40 points, including 10 in the last three minutes, to lift visiting Dallas to a victory over Houston.
James Harden had 30 points at halftime, but the Mavericks slowed him down in the second half. He scored just 9 points in the second half.
Hawks 93, Grizzlies 83:
Josh Smith had 24 points, Lou Williams scored 18 of his 21 in the second half, and visiting Atlanta won for the nine time in 10 games.